The 10 Month Post

Finally in the double digits (for months)

Its been a busy month in our family the past month, filled with lots of excitement, some traveling, and new milestones.  Some of the business is from our house finally getting its waterproofing work done on our house and the associated chaos as a result of that (blog post on that topic soon).  But we also had lots of comings and goings in the last 30 days.

First, we were all down in Fort Wayne in September for a wedding.  Maia's Uncle Jeff and Aunt Hannah got married in a wonderful ceremony, and an altogether fantastic weekend with family.  Friday night at the rehearsal dinner, Maia blew us away with how well she did.  At the same restaurant that Jackie and I had our wedding rehearsal dinner at, Maia sat at a high chair the entire night, and seemed content just to be right at the table.  She enjoyed looking around at all the new faces, and playing with various toys.  Despite staying up more than an hour over her normal bedtime, she never got fussy or cranky.  It was a great night.  We continue to be so very lucky with her.

"I'm dancing, I'm dancing!"

The next night at the wedding and reception, fun was had by all.  It was a beautiful ceremony at Jackie' family church, followed by a great reception.  Maia danced a little, and while she enjoyed the energy of the reception, did succumb to sleep for about 2 hours during the reception.  However, she woke up for the final 30 minutes in order to close the place down.  She then proceeded to stay up all the way to near 1 a.m. when we got back to Jackie's parents' house, still wired from the evening.  All in all, it was a great weekend, and Maia continues to amaze us with her flexibility.

Future Puma?

We also had the opportunity to take Maia on her first homecoming to Saint Joseph's College (SJC), where Jackie and I met.  For that reason, and many others, SJC is a very special place for both Jackie and I.  So, despite the rain (a lot of it), we very much appreciated the chance to share at least part of it with our daughter.  We mainly hung out with some friends under their tailgating canopy, not getting the chance to walk the campus, visit the grotto, see the chapel.  However, we of course did find time to make to the college store to get Maia some necessary SJC gear!

I mentioned in the 9 month post that Maia had just started pulling herself up using furniture.  That continued this past month, with two very exciting (and scary) developments.  Maia started to simply let go after pulling herself up, attempting to balance and stand on her own.  She usually succeeds for a few seconds, before getting overjoyed at standing on her own that she loses focus and plops to the ground (I'm convinced this is the reason for all the padding in diapers).  For a while, she seemed content to just pull herself up and stand, or pull herself up and attempt to continue to climb upwards on the furniture.  In the past week though, she has started shuffling along the furniture, adding another element to her mobility.  Its such a true joy to watch her develop these "skills."  Its amazing how awesome of an experience it is just to sit back and watch her explore her world, her growing skills, her limitations, her problem solving, her intentional behavior.

I'm ready to explore

Fine, if you're not going to give me my bottle,
I'll get it on my own.

Another development in the last week or so has been the increased usage of her eye-hand coordination.  At the 9 month appointment, they mentioned that we could start Maia on some cheerios or grain puffs, so she would get used to chomping on food, and develop the coordination of her fingers and hand to her mouth.  Initially, this wasn't very successful, as Maia had no interest in putting the little puffs in her mouth (practically the only thing she was unwilling to put in her mouth for the last couple months!).  But once she figured out it was edible, and it had flavor, she was sold.  Putting those little puffs down on a table or tray in front of her results in a flurry of activity, with her constantly reaching, grabbing, and trying to get the puffs into her mouth.  She is much better than when she started, but she currently only has about a 50% success rate of the puff actually getting to her mouth, as opposed to her bib, her chair, the floor.  So, after 10 long months, I think its safe to say that Ellie finally approves of Maia. ;).

"I got in here all by myself!"

Things have been a whirlwind the past month.  Between the trips, several high school football games in town, visits from grandparents, and the ongoing remodeling/repair work at the house, the pace doesn't seem to slow down.  But each and every day, Maia brings happiness and peace to our daily routines.  Its incredible to think, that a year ago, while matched with a birthmother, we still had no idea of whether things would work out - if the birthmother would still choose adoption after birth, if there would be no legal hassles, if we would still be chosen, etc.  And now, I don't think we can even imagine things being any different.

"Going for walks is the best!"

"Alright, I'm done with 10, on to 11!"